Washington DC, Boston, Massachusetts, Denver, Colorado, Seattle, Washington, Trenton, New Jersey

Today, in over 30 cities throughout the United States and Europe, thousands of scientists and their supporters marched in protest against decisions by President Donald Trump’s administration to reduce the national scientific workforce and drastically cut global research funding.

The atmosphere at these gatherings was one of strong defiance. Echoing through the crowds were chants like “Scientists will not be silenced”, “Facts over fear”, and “What do we want? Peer review! When do we want it? Now!”

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In Trenton, New Jersey, Rush Holt Jr, the former CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, rallied the crowd with a quote from Bob Marley, urging them to “get up, stand up.”

At the Boston rally, Ana-Maria Vranceanu, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School who specializes in aiding individuals with dementia and chronic pain, expressed urgency: “This is the time to actually stop this, before things get really bad.”

Abraham Flaxman, a researcher in global health metrics at the University of Washington who was present at the Seattle rally, shared his realization: “I’ve been waiting for someone to do something. It’s dawned on me: nobody is coming to save us. We’re going to have to save ourselves.”

Marie Walde, a biophysicist at the Roscoff Biological Station in France, shared her support on the social media platform BlueSky, stating: “In solidarity with our colleagues in the US, researchers and citizens all over France are protesting today for science and knowledge as a public good.”

‘A Five-Alarm Fire’

The Stand Up for Science rallies are a direct response to the Trump administration’s comprehensive assault on the US research sector. Since January, the administration has dismissed thousands of workers from US science agencies, whose roles spanned areas like nuclear safety, avian flu monitoring, and extreme weather prediction. Additionally, there have been attempts to halt research grants at agencies such as the US National Science Foundation and to cut ‘indirect costs’ provided to biomedical research centers by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH)—actions that were later blocked by federal courts. This week, Nature reported that under Trump’s orders, the NIH has started to terminate numerous active research grants for studies on topics like transgender health, which the administration deems politically unsuitable.

Confounded by these actions and the lack of visible opposition, five US scientists orchestrated today’s rallies. “This is a five-alarm fire,” declared Colette Delawalla, a psychologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She emphasized the necessity of pausing their work to address these critical issues: “If we don’t take action now, there might not be any science to return to,” she warned.

However, the organizers, having learned from past protests like the international March for Science in 2017, understand that rallies alone cannot drive change. “It’s not a one-and-done thing,” noted Samantha Goldstein, a women’s health researcher at the University of Florida in Gainesville and one of the event’s organizers. She assured that the organizers would persist in their efforts to see their policy objectives realized.

A Lost Generation

Speakers and participants at several rallies today voiced concerns about the dire consequences the Trump administration’s policies might have on the future of science and upcoming scientists.

In Boston, Nancy Kanwisher, a cognitive neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, addressed the crowd, stressing, “You can’t just fire everyone and expect to rehire them when convenient. We risk losing an entire generation of scientists.”

Atul Gawande, a public health researcher and former assistant administrator at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), spoke to the crowd in Washington DC about the personal impact of these cuts: “I’ve seen scientists carrying their careers in boxes as they leave their dream jobs.” He pointed out the targeting of scientists by the administration because “science doesn’t always provide the answers that those in power want to hear.”

Others expressed their frustration with how scientists are being treated. “I’m a scientist and I’m pissed off,” said Carolee Caffrey, a behavioral ecologist at Rider University in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, who was greeting attendees at the Trenton rally. “I’m all the ‘D’ words: Dismayed, depressed, disgusted.”

Some attendees saw the rallies as a valuable opportunity for scientists to express their concerns openly. Valerie H., a software engineer working in crop science who preferred not to give her full name, noted the extensive impact of recent layoffs at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies on her work. “I know hundreds of people on LinkedIn who are looking for work,” she said at the Denver rally. “People are grateful to have a place to speak out.”

Lessons from the Past

The potential impact of today’s rallies on the future of US science remains uncertain. Jonathan Berman, a renal physiologist at Arkansas State University who helped organize the 2017 March for Science, expressed his disappointment that previous efforts did not lead to substantial policy changes. Although he advised today’s organizers, he chose not to lead a rally himself.

Eric Shuman, a social psychologist at New York University, noted that while peaceful, non-disruptive rallies can boost support within a movement, they often fail to capture the attention of those not already engaged. “Large, non-disruptive rallies are easily ignored by those not paying attention,” he explained.

However, Shuman also noted the importance of such events in mobilizing a community. “Galvanizing a community can be crucial,” he added.

Moving forward, the Stand Up for Science organizers are already planning future initiatives. These include a potential grant program to encourage people to discuss their scientific work within their communities and support for training programs to help scientists develop advocacy skills. “It’s a critical skill that people will need to have,” stated Emma Courtney, a biologist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York and a core organizer of the event.

In Washington DC, Haley Chatelaine, a postdoctoral fellow at the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and vice-president of the NIH fellows union, shared her optimism with the crowd: “I feel excited and hopeful. We believe in our collective power.”

J.P. Flores, a bioinformatics researcher at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a core organizer of today’s rallies, told Nature: “March 7 is just the beginning — it’s not the endpoint.”

This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on March 7, 2025.